Noel Grima (The Malta Independent on Sunday, 18 September), wrote an article entitled Bubble, bubble, is the Akkademja tal-Malti in trouble?” The piece goes back in time to give his version of “trouble” within L-Akkademja tal-Malti up to October 2004. Then, the same article leaps forward in time to mention the Akkademja’s annual general meeting to be held tomorrow, a meeting at which a new council is to be elected.
However, the same article leaves unmentioned the whole intervening period with all the accomplishments of the interim council, whose term runs from 16 October 2004 to 24 September 2005. In this way, the article gives the false impression that the Akkademja’s present circumstances are the same as those of a year ago, and that nothing has been achieved between these two dates.
In fact, the year omitted by Noel Grima’s piece had a record number of council meetings (33 in all, of around three hours’ duration each), as well an extraordinary general meeting. All these meetings took place without controversy, hindrance or “trouble”. Discussions during these meetings were characterised by intelligent arguments and useful advice, given in an atmosphere of cooperation, and culminating in decisions reached not by vote, but by a mature dialogue and consensus.
Another fact Noel Grima failed to mention is that, during its one-year term, the interim council published two issues of the review Il-Malti (consisting of 41 authors of different age groups and styles), and that these issues were praised by many members as excellent, professional volumes of a high academic and literary standard. The article also leaves unmentioned the enormous effort put in by all the members of the interim council within the same year in order to accomplish the Akkademja’s new statute, passed with all the votes in favour, at an extraordinary general meeting with a number of amendments, and professionally published and sent to all the members of L-Akkademja.
Noel Grima’s piece also neglected to mention that the interim council has launched the Akkademja’s website on the internet, an accomplishment that took months of cooperation, and that has been commended as excellent by various writers and scholars, based in Malta and in Australia, France, and Luxembourg. The cost of launching this website was well above Lm1,000 (a sum sponsored by the Education Ministry).
The website includes the history of the Maltese language, the Akkademja’s history, bibliographies, biographies, a library section with writings by members, the statute, theses, current circulars and various other articles. Despite the fact that Noel Grima is oblivious to this website, an electronic copy of his article was submitted to this website in order to reach the interim council of L-Akkademja tal-Malti.
Another accomplishment Noel Grima omits from his piece is the renewal of an agreement between L-Akkademja tal-Malti and APS Bank, stating that L-Akkademja recommends one manuscript by a Maltese author for publication, from a number of manuscripts submitted to the APS Bank. This agreement, too, was renewed through the interim council’s efforts.
All these achievements by the interim council were seen to completion by the efforts of 10 council members within 12 months, members who also maintained all the documentation, circulars, and notices required as part of the administration of L-Akkademja. Circulars and notices received by the Akkademja’s members were described as being very professional and thorough.
We, the members of the council, held back from using the local newspapers in self-flattery, as we believe that every member of L-Akkademja tal-Malti can truthfully acknowledge the record amount of work carried out in this year’s cooperative and tranquil environment within our institution. Neither was there the intention that this year’s accomplishments be used for personal gain. In fact, only three members of the present interim council will be contesting tomorrow’s election. All the interim council’s efforts and achievements were fulfilled with a spirit of being of service to the rest of the membership of L-Akkademja tal-Malti, and of displaying the concrete benefits that are, in truth, brought about by consensus and cooperation.
In the same article, Noel Grima alleges that the interim council of L-Akkademja was used in order that some individuals could ensure their position on the Kunsill Nazzjonali ta’ l-Ilsien Malti. The interim council, in fact, recommended various people for each position on the Kunsill Nazzjonali ta’ l-Ilsien Malti, and each final selection from among those recommended was carried out by the government, not the interim council. Moreover, in making its recommendations, the interim council avoided any kind of discrimination and went by the criterion of academic qualifications. The interim council was bound by law (regarding the Kunsill Nazzjonali ta’ l-Ilsien Malti) to use this criterion of academic qualifications only, a law it would have contravened had it failed to do so.
In the same newspaper, this time on page 24, there is also some brief information about the launch of a book in Maltese. In this information, one of the speakers on the occasion is mentioned as the “Akkademja tal-Malti president”. In fact, the Akkademja tal-Malti president for this year was and still is Dr Bernard Micallef, and not the speaker mentioned, who presided over L-Akkademja before the present council’s whole term, omitted in Noel Grima’s article.
We will not go into the question of whether it is just a coincidence that in the same issue of The Malta Independent on Sunday (and just a week before Saturday’s election) these omissions and misinformation should appear simultaneously. However, we advise all the members of L-Akkademja that at tomorrow’s annual general meeting they vote without being under the impression that there has been “trouble” in L-Akkademja tal-Malti during the year, or that during the same year nothing was achieved, or that all the above-mentioned accomplishments were carried out by anyone other than these council members: Dr Bernard Micallef (president), Lina Brockdorff (vice-president), George Farrugia (secretary), Oreste Calleja (treasurer), Trevor Zahra (PRO), Anthony Sammut (assistant treasurer), Joseph P Borg (assistant secretary), Dr Josette Attard (member), Eng. Maurice Mifsud Bonnici (member) and Fr Victor Xuereb (member).
No one can deny the fact that it was due to the efforts and hard work of this united team that the widely praised results of this year were accomplished. The actual council of L-Akkademja tal-Malti looks forward to tomorrow’s AGM, and expresses its sincere hope that members attend this meeting in the same spirit of accomplishment and calm that has characterised this year’s running of
L-Akkademja tal-Malti.
Trevor Zahra
PRO Akkademja tal-Malti